


for now and forever

by brumel



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon Compliant, Developing Relationship, F/M, Post-Canon, Post-Chapter 699 (Naruto), Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:55:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27409954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brumel/pseuds/brumel
Summary: Sakura cries a lot. It doesn't mean she's not happy.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 14
Kudos: 83





	for now and forever

Sakura cries a lot.

She's cried a fair deal in her life and doesn't think she's ever going to stop for as long as she lives. As long as she gets to feel as strong as she does.

She cries when she's happy. She cries when she's sad. She cries when she's exhausted or furious.

Sometimes she cries for him.

When she finds Sasuke with only one arm but alive and smiling faintly at her, joy and relief hit her at once and leave her cheeks wet with tears. 

She can hardly see Sasuke's expression like this, with her eyes overflowing with wetness. But she knows he blames himself.

It happens once, when she leaves his hospital room after treating his wounds.

No one is there in the empty corridor, so she presses her back against the wall and sighs. She doesn't really make a sound, the tears stream down her face by themselves as her shoulders shake.

"Sakura?"

She looks up, gasping. Sasuke looks down at her, mouth shut in a thin line.

"Sasuke-kun?" she wipes her cheek, "Did you need something?"

"You're crying," he says.

She nods. It's been a long day.

"No need to worry," she says, laughing lightly.

Years before, Sasuke would shrug it off and leave her to train on his own. Time was essential. She was a distraction and he had his goal. He's shown her he cares, and she never once stopped believing he didn't care for her anymore—it's just been so long.

"Is it something I did?"

Would seeing him healthy and sane count as something he did? She laughs again.

"Please, don't worry Sasuke-kun," she sniffs, "It's been a long day."

He doesn't keep pushing as she would expect him to. There's a part of her that wants to tell him what's been on her mind, but it's not time. Sasuke knows this too. Perhaps he doesn't even want to hear it.

She chooses to remain positive.

"Have a good night," she murmurs.

"You too."

It happens more than once in a span of a month, and she can tell it's annoying him. She can never cease to annoy him, no matter what she does. 

"You're doing it again," he says, frowning.

"I'm sorry," she says, and this time she sobs harder.

She followed him to the training grounds of the village where he intended to test his mobility after lying in bed for so long. Kakashi Sensei had insisted she keep an eye on him.

"Why are you crying?" he asks, not hiding his impatience.

"I don't know," she whines, and keeps her head down, hiding her face behind her hands. It's because he's here, and healthy, cured thanks to her. It's only a matter of time before he leaves her and finds someone else to comfort her. 

There's just so much going on and nothing at the same time. The war is over just like that, and she's left with a once broken man never showing an ounce of emotion.

"Sakura," he says softly.

"No," she squeaks.

His hand takes her hands away from her face then, one by one. Her gaze remains on the ground, her pulse ringing in her ears as she spots his feet so close to hers.

"I can't do this with your head down like that," he mutters.

Sakura lifts her head. Not because he asked for it, because she's curious to see what he plans to do.

His eyes are on hers face, looking down, searching for something. His eyebrows knit together as he seems as confused as she is.

His hand curls around the side of her neck, his gaze following the movement, his lips parting. 

It's the first time he touched her since that day he held her upright after she saved him with Obito. Trembling, she realizes she's been craving for this. She'd never lacked affection, not like he did half of his life—this, the mere light touch of his fingers against her skin, makes her feel like she's never been touched in her entire life.

She remains still as his eyes refuse to look into hers. Then her fingers cover his wrists, and his eyes eventually shift to her eyes, and her lips.

Slowly, his eyes flutter shut while his face comes close to hers. Her own eyelids slam shut as she understands what his intentions are.

But she's shaking. Her other hand reaches for his shoulder as she feels his lips meet hers, bracing herself for the inflow of euphoria that consumes her. 

Her hand fists in his shirt as he presses close and she sighs into the kiss. Slow. Tender. No one would use those words to describe the man she loved all her life, and yet his lips move in this way, caressing hers smoothly.

A noise catches in her throat as soon as he pulls back, his cheeks painted a little red.

All of a sudden, tears stream down her cheeks. Again.

"What the hell," Sasuke groans.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun," she wails, and buries her flaming face into his chest without thinking. 

She cries harder when his hand presses against her back. 

"You're confusing sometimes," he tells her, but he holds her close nonetheless.

There comes a time when she rests a lot—as ordered by Lady Tsunade, and when her little rendezvous with Sasuke grow in number—that he learns that she's as emotional as she's been in the past, perhaps even more so. It does take a little time adjusting to it, but at least she doesn't sob as soon as he makes her tremendously happy.

Sasuke kisses her behind her ear after finding a sheltered spot under the trees, one where they're certain Naruto won't come looking for them.

Her back pressed to his chest, she hums and lets him mark every inch of her skin. His hand reaches for her right one, lacing their fingers together.

Against her back she imagines Sasuke closing his eyes and indulging in the same contentment as she does. He doesn't talk much—though he does more in her presence than in the others', but his body betrays him. When he relaxes against her, when she holds her face in her hands and kisses him and his eyes darken, she knows for certain he feels what she feels.

Perhaps more. Perhaps a little less. She knows from experience that behind that blank expression of his hides a broken little boy who once lost everything and that it could take him a lifetime for him to heal.

Sasuke never had to warn her. As if she had seen the worst and he never intended to go back to that dark place, as if she knew exactly what she was getting herself into.

Just now she shudders in between his arms.

The kisses on stop, leaving her shoulders tingling, and then she's coming down from the mountain of thoughts to go back to that reality.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asks.

"Nothing," she murmurs and shifts to rest her head on his shoulder, "I was just...thinking."

Sasuke looks at her intensely, in that scheming way of his. 

"I was thinking of some things too," he tells her.

"Hm?"

She smirks and cocks her head to the side. "What kind of things?"

His dark eyes blend into the scarlet color of the sharingan, making her gasp and sending her into another world. A memory. A vision. Not unlike when he put her under his genjutsu.

It's a blur, like she's in his head and he's thinking about a million things at once. She sees herself wearing the ribbon around her head, small and insecure. The several missions and they went on with Kakashi. Her arms around him as she begs him to stop as he's possessed by Orochimaru's mark. Her tears when he left her for the first time. 

She expects other memories to follow, but the memory slows down. Her genin doesn't follow on the ground. Sasuke catches her and lays her down on a bench. Her face stays still for a long time, as if Sasuke was staring at her at that time. A lock of her hair is tucked behind her ear.

Sasuke takes her back not before a long time staring at her crying face laid on the bench.

"You understand what that means?" Sasuke's present self asks her.

She blinks, moving so she can now face him properly.

"You've been on my mind...a lot," Sasuke mutters, holding her gaze, "You were a nuisance that couldn't leave my mind even when I've had a bigger goal. Even now, I…"

He scowls. She's never seen him lost for words before, and her heart skips a beat at the knowledge that this is her doing. 

She knows what he's struggling to say. Somehow, she's always known she had that place in his heart no one else managed to obtain. But almost hearing it coming from his mouth makes her the happiest woman in the world.

Sasuke's lips are still wobbling, fighting to get the words out. He'll get there, she knows for certain. They have a whole life together ahead of them, they still have time for confessions.

She grabs his face and kisses his lips, smiling into the kiss as he eventually responds just as eagerly. It's salty, and moist, and it's when she separates herself from him that she realizes exactly why.

"Again?" Sasuke mutters, as she sniffs and dabs her teary eyes.

"It's because I'm so happy," she sobs harder, and dries his tears in his shirt as he gathers her close.

**Author's Note:**

> HMMMMMM yeah


End file.
